This invention relates to a method and apparatus for blending (mixing) textile fibers. The apparatus is of the type which has a plurality of serially arranged mixing hoppers or the like, charged in sequence with useful (good) fibers at the top by means of a fiber conveying arrangement. The useful fibers are discharged from the bottom of each hopper onto a common blending conveyor.
According to a known method, the useful fibers are admitted to a cleaner and therefrom they are advanced to a blender, such as a multi-hopper, multiple blending apparatus. Upstream of the cleaner, small quantities of cleaned waste fibers are added to the useful (good) fibers. It is a disadvantage of this known process that the waste fibers are not admitted in a uniformly metered manner, so that irregularities in the blend and thus in the yarn prepared from the fiber blend may appear. Such irregularities disadvantageously manifest themselves, for example, as discolorations.